Bringing Mid-Autumn Gifts to Small Crucian Carp – But No Carp in Sight, Only Loaches Stealing the Show!

Okay, let’s cut to the chase: this year’s weather is straight-up weird. It’s White Dew (a Chinese solar term, for context) – we got a few days of nice, cool autumn weather, then BAM, the “Autumn Tiger” (that late-season heatwave) came roaring back like it owned the place. Temperatures shot back up to summer levels, and tomorrow’s the Mid-Autumn Festival – family reunion day! I figured I’d sneak in one last fishing trip before the kids all showed up, y’know? Bring some “Mid-Autumn gifts” to my little crucian carp friends in the river. Spoiler: they didn’t show up. Instead, loaches crashed the party harder than a drunk uncle at a family dinner.

The Setup: Perfect Weather, Perfect Bait (For Carp…)

Date: September 9th, Friday (lunar calendar: 8th month, 14th day – day before Mid-Autumn). Weather: overcast turning sunny, south wind 2 (mild, nice). Temperatures: 20-30°C (68-86°F). Barometric pressure: 1000 hPa (steady, good for fishing). Fishing index: 86, fish activity: 78. Like, this was a textbook good day to fish. I was low-key hyped.

Prepping the “Gifts” (Bait) the Night Before

You don’t mess around with prepping for a fishing trip, especially when you’re targeting specific fish. First, I packed my gear based on the spot: it’s a tiny, unnamed urban stream. Then I mixed up the bait – this was the “Mid-Autumn feast” for the crucian carp:

• 2 parts Wuliang You No. 2 (a popular carp bait)
• 1 part Tongsha Xiang (another common bait)
• 2 parts Big Fish King (scented for bigger fish)
• A tiny splash of random Wuliang You mix to “spice it up”

I kneaded it all up, let it rest, then stuck it in the fridge to keep it fresh. Fancy, right? For the little carp buds.

Arrival: First to the Spot, But…

I hopped on my bike at 5:30 AM and hit the stream. Turns out I was the first one there – everyone else was probably busy prepping for the festival. Score! I picked a flat old spot I knew, even though it was still pretty dark. Used the streetlights from the other bank to check the depth. Thank goodness for my Big Fish King reflective seven-star floats – I could still see them well enough to adjust the rig.

The Rig: Traditional for Shallow Water

The water here was only about 70 cm (2.3 feet) deep – super shallow. So I went with a traditional seven-star float rig. Rod: 4.5m stream rod (light, stiff, perfect for small spots). Hooks: size 1 sleeve hooks (small, good for tiny carp). Then I used a 6.3m rod to drop my pre-made carp bottom bait into the spot with a bait dropper. Got the rig set, bait was perfect – let’s go!

The Chaos Begins: Loaches, Loaches, Everywhere!

I started casting and reeling, casting and reeling – like 20 minutes straight. Then the sun started coming up, and I saw the spot boiling with bubbles. My heart was racing – finally, the carp are here! Then the float started twitching like crazy. I yank the rod – and BAM! A fat loach, like 10 cm (4 inches) long, flops up. Ugh. Normally I hate these things – they’re slimy, slippery, you can’t hold ’em without a towel, and unhooking ’em is a nightmare. But hey, at least it’s a fish, right? Better than nothing.

I wrapped it in a towel, unhooked it, and tossed it far away – don’t come back, you little pest! Wash my hands, cast again. And… another loach. Then another. Then another. I swear, the more I hated ’em, the more they showed up. No carp, no whitebait, no tiny mackerel – nothing but loaches. No wonder the spot was boiling – they were going nuts down there!

20+ Loaches, One Mess

After a while, I had 20+ loaches – all big ones, too. One huge loach was so crazy it jumped around and tangled my line so bad I couldn’t be bothered to fix it. I just swapped out the whole rig. These things were rolling around in the spot, stirring up the water like a blender. I thought, “Fine, I’ll leave your stupid spot!” So I moved to three different spots – same thing. Loaches everywhere. What the hell?

They’re so annoying! They squirm all over, get my towel slimy, and even jump onto my clothes or face. Some even hook themselves by the tail and flop up. Their strength in water is no joke, either. I tossed the first 20 back, then a police officer came by and watched for a minute. He goes, “Sir, you’re throwing all these back? Can I have ’em? My turtle at home will love ’em!” I was like, “Sure, take ’em all – I don’t want ’em!” So I put ’em in a folding bucket for him.

Two Hours, Zero Carp – What’s Going On?

From 5:30 to 7:30 AM – two whole hours – I caught nothing but loaches. Not a single crucian carp. Not even the usual annoying small fish. Did all the other fish go home for Mid-Autumn? Like, family reunion? But loaches have no family? No feelings? That’s what I thought at the time – I was so confused.

I’ve fished for decades – never seen anything like this. I was so confused I decided to call it quits. The cop was still there, so I dumped the bucket (about 20 loaches) into his bag. He was stoked: “This’ll feed my turtle for days!” Kept thanking me. I said, “No problem – if you’d asked earlier, I wouldn’t have thrown the first 20 back. Probably would’ve had 40-50 by now!”

The Big Reveal: Pollution Killed the Party

I packed up my gear, but I was still so confused. My clothes had loach slime and a little blood, and I was still mad about my fancy carp bait going to waste. So I left my bag on the steps and walked down the stream to the dam’s downstream. And what did I see? Oh my god – the river was polluted. Fish were floating at the surface, some even dead. That’s why the other fish were gone! Only loaches could survive that garbage.

Wow. I gotta hand it to loaches – their survival skills are insane. They can live in gross water, even burrow into mud if there’s no water. But that’s a sad win, y’know? I hope the government figures out where the pollution’s coming from and fixes it. We need clean water for the fish, for nature, for us. Protecting the environment isn’t just a slogan – it’s for real.

Anyway, that’s my crazy Mid-Autumn fishing story. Total flop for carp, total loach takeover. Ever had a fishing trip where the wrong fish just won’t leave you alone? Hit me up in the comments – I need to know I’m not the only one!